Free school meals for 500,000 more children

The average pack of 20 cigarettes costs £14.00. £9.00 of that is tax. So if someone is spending £420 on cigarettes they are paying over £260 in tax back to the Treasury.

More than half the price of an £8 bottle of wine goes back to the Treasury in VAT and excise duty.

I’m not advocating smoking or excess drinking but the Exchequer raises 8 billion a year in tobacco duty and another 13 billion in alcohol duty.

I think we can spare some of that to feed children, don’t you?

Much as I feel everyone should be responsible for the well being and funding of their own family, having worked closely with parents and children for many years, school meals were a lot more than just a 'free dinner'. Children were encouraged in good habits - washing hands, choosing food, , thanking the kitchen staff who served, sitting down together and talking to classmates, using a knife and fork ( a surprising number used only spoons, or fingers) learning what a balanced meal was, and clearing their plates. The school was fortunate to have excellent food, and the whole exercise was positive and healthy for young children.

Cossy

Good, progress towards being a “real” Labour government.

I'm not sure I'd want everyone's version of a "real" Labour government but the are certainly moving forward and so far they don't seem to be moving to the extremes.

I always hope the gossipy blame game doesn't come into these discussions, but I see it's popped up again.

Scarcity is not just a word: it's a mindset. It connects many of the diverse problems we face in life, from why the overweight can't stop eating, to why insomniacs can't sleep and the lonely find it hard to make friends. Folk wisdom tells us not to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach - because you'll buy the wrong food, and too much of it. Now, the latest research in psychology and economics show that when we don't have enough, not only do we make the wrong choices, our brains also change. We have less mind to devote to the rest of our lives, or, in other words, we lack mental 'bandwidth'. (Scarcity BT Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir)

No they were telling people and finding it hilarious actually.

On an online newspaper a couple of years ago the subject of free school meals came up. There were hundreds of comments against free meals for children. People saying why should their tax pay for someone else's children. No tax money should be spent on others children etc. I thought it was very sad that so many didn't care if little children went hungry. I did comment and got so many red negative arrows. Most people now really don't care for others only for themselves. But quite a lot will put 'Be kind' on FB to look good.

I'm not saying 'all children should have nourishing free school lunches' to look good, it's because it's something I firmly believe in.

Children are our future and they need to be nurtured.

I remember a Children's Commissioner who asked children what they liked about school holidays. One boy said he didn't like school holidays. When she asked why, he said it was because he didn't get a dinner at all in the holidays.

No I am not being kind either I loathe 'be kind'.